FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Months after a man was shot and killed at a market that’s a common location for crime, there has been no arrests, and now his loved ones are filing a lawsuit hoping to make a change in the neighborhood, while making a passionate plea to find a killer who remains on the loose.
Collette Black is now suing the market, which she said acted negligently. She also said that in the past few years, there have been 14 shootings at Tony’s Market and nothing has been to stop them.
“I don’t ever want to see another mother have to go through what I’m going through right now,” said Black.
On Tuesday, Black and her attorney held a press conference to announce a lawsuit against the market for negligence.
Black said there have been numerous shootings at the market.
Her 34-year-old son, Steven Black, was killed back in March.
“Tony’s Market is a business in Broward County in Fort Lauderdale, that is a menace to our society and a menace to our community,” said Kimberly Wald, lawyer for the Haggard Law Firm. “We know that the year before Steven was shot, Easter of 2021, there was a 6-year-old and 16-year-old shot and injured at Tony’s Market when more than 50 rounds of a semi-automatic rifle was shot into the crowd.”
“His death does not have to be in vain. Maybe with the death of my son, it will bring light to the situation,” said Black.
Surveillance video showed the gunman walking into the store in the middle of the day, wearing a gray hoodie, when he pulled out a gun and aimed it at Steven’s head while he was talking with some friends.
After the shooting, the gunman fled the store. He is still on the loose.
Fort Lauderdale Police said they have increased their presence and patrols after the shooting that occured on Easter. They also said the violence had stopped for sometime until the shooting that took Black’s life.
“I want to look up and see my son coming through the door. I want to see my son asking me if I had done his laundry and ask me to cook him some shrimp and cook him some broccoli,” said the victim’s mother, “do some of the favorite things he liked to do. This needs to stop. I can’t get all of that back.”
Steven’s mother is now hoping someone comes forward with information that will lead to her son’s murderer and that the lawsuit will stop the violence.
“Something needs to be done, this needs to stop, this hurts, this hurts bad, and it just needs to stop,” Black said. “I can’t change what has happened, but maybe change is needed. I don’t want no mother to ever feel– so if you know something, if you saw something, you need to say something. Steven was a good person.”
If you have any information on this shooting, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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